Catching up after Covid – the greatest challenge of a generation

He rightly referred to the catching up of learners who have fallen behind due to Covid, ‘as the greatest challenge of my generation of educators’. Those who are most vulnerable and who face the most barriers to learning have been the hardest hit.

He’s right, it is a huge challenge and one that risks overwhelming an underfunded and over stretched education system. For us in further education, this isn’t about a ‘bit of tutoring in the corner’ as Sir Kevan puts it, however tested it is. It requires a fundamental shift in how we will approach teaching and learning in the next few years. And how we do this without narrowing the curriculum.

Courses and lesson-planning will need to be reworked, knowledge and practical skills from the past eighteen months will need to be re-taught, recapped. All at the same time as ensuring learners catch up without falling further behind.

Not only will we need to use all our skills and experience to devise a curriculum which covers all of these requirements, but we’ll have to make it work in more or less the same number of hours we had before. There has to be support for staff in planning and managing this. There has to be flexibility afforded in the funding model to make this initiative stick. Otherwise we will not be meeting the individual needs of learners but merely jumping through hoops.

This will play out explicitly when it comes to how we manage the extra tutoring proposed by the government. It’s great that the FE sector has access to the funding for this, albeit considerably less than schools. But how in reality will we make it work? It is challenging to tag extra hours on to the end of the day in any education settings but it’s even less likely in the FE sector where learners often have other commitments outside of study. But we clearly can’t have students miss lessons, unless we want to exacerbate the problem. We need a fundamental look at how we organise and make this work.

Nacro has used a range of approaches to support young people including one to one tutoring and some day-long intense programmes such as maths to focus on practising skills and using knowledge. We have worked creatively to ensure access to good and safe skills provision, booking gym sessions for those studying personal training and working with local farms to access experience for those doing animal care.

Another major consideration is to see it from the point of view of those being ‘caught-up’. We have a cohort of learners who in our recent surveys have stated they are worried about their futures and of failing, who see the jobs market and don’t see an easy future for themselves. Their mental health during lock down and periods of disruption has suffered, which has had a knock-on effect on their motivation. It’s the worst possible time to put the pressure on them to complete three years of education and skills in one. But yet they must. Meeting their individual needs will be key:

“In my eyes it has been so good and worthwhile. I have enjoyed it and it is so much help getting extra lessons for English and Maths. It is helping me improve. The tutor has been supportive when you ask questions. The extra tuition has really helped me and hopefully I will now get the re-sit grades I hope for on GCSE results day.”

As always this will hit the most disadvantaged young people the hardest. Those without computers at home, those without private tutoring, with part time jobs after study. It is these young people who we worry about most.

It is a challenge like no other. Educators, practitioners, learners must all rise to it. We must put the needs of the learner and young person first. The consequences if we don’t are too grave to consider.

Lisa Capper is director of education and skills at Nacro

Nacro is currently running its Learn Without Limits campaign calling on the government to remove barriers to education for disadvantaged young people.